NEW DELHI - A total of 18.78 lakh foreigners visited India this year within the first 10 months on E-visa -- four times more than the 4.47 lakh figure registered in 2015 and the highest so far. The maximum number of visitors who availed of this facility were from the UK, the US, China, France and Germany. A home ministry release said that arrivals between January and October, 2018 also broke last year's record when 17 lakh foreigners visited India...

NEW DELHI - Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the moderate face of the BJP who attracted allies and formed the first saffron government at the Centre in the 1990s, died here after a long illness. The 93-year-old leader, who had faded from public life for more than a decade following health complications and was admitted to AIIMS with kidney infection and chest congestion on June 11, breathed his last at 5.05 p.m.,

NEW DELHI - US Ambassador to India Kenneth I. Juster on Monday told Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju that his country was keen on continuing the ongoing homeland security dialogue between the two countries to jointly counter the threats posed by terrorism. Juster's remarks came during half-an-hour meeting with Rijiju at his North Block office where they took up homeland security issues.

MUMBAI - At least 90 residents were evacuated safely after a fire broke out on the 33rd floor of the Beaumonte Towers in the posh Prabhadevi area of Dadar here on Wednesday afternoon. Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who also lives in the same building on the 26th floor, tweeted that she was safe and expressed her prayers for the well-being of the firefighters. According to BMC Disaster Control, the fire erupted around 2.10 p.m. on...

JOHANNESBURG - Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday called for joint action by the BRICS grouping against money laundering and financing of terrorists. Addressing the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Foreign Ministers' meeting here, she said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a call for a BRICS Counter-Terrorism Strategy "for joint action with a focus on money laundering,

MUMBAI - Full-service international passenger carrier Jet Airways on Monday said that it will commence services under the air regional connectivity (RCS) -- UDAN -- scheme from next month. According to the airline, it has been awarded four routes under the RCS scheme and will launch operations on three new routes -- Lucknow-Allahabad-Patna, New Delhi-Nashik and Nagpur-Allahabad-Indore sector from next month.

The Delhi government's plan to procure 1,000 electric buses is likely to get the cabinet's nod very soon. A cabinet note for the proposal has been prepared by the transport department and has been vetted by different departments including finance and planning. The proposal to procure the buses through the cluster scheme or Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is going to be presented before the council of ministers in the next cabinet meeting.

JODHPUR - Actor Salman Khan was granted bail by a district and sessions court in Jodhpur on Saturday in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case in which he was sentenced to five years in jail on Thursday. After spending two nights in Jodhpur Central Jail, he left after completing all legal formalities and headed back to Mumbai in a chartered flight. He cannot leave the country without the court's permission.

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court questioned the Centre on Wednesday about its decision to link Aadhaar with pensions, reasoning that it is not a subsidy but an entitlement of a person for years of service he or she has rendered to the government in discharge of official duties. Referring to the argument of petitioners that many pensioners have been denied their only subsistence in old age due to technical and physical reasons,

NEW DELHI - On the eve of International Women's Day, the Delhi Police has launched an all-women patrolling squad to protect women from cat-callers and instil a sense of confidence among women. Police on Wednesday said the initiative was conceived with twin objectives -- to give security and comfort to women and girls on roads, public places, outside schools, metro stations, parks and colleges in south Delhi, and to motivate policewomen.